A Tim Nicholls-led Liberal National Government will increase tourism jobs and free WiFi coverage in local tourist communities to showcase Queensland to the world on social media.

The Problem

The Australian tourism industry is in the middle of a boom period, with significant growth in domestic and international visitor nights and expenditure.

However, as other states and territories are powering ahead, Queensland isn’t capitalising on our good weather and the lower Australian Dollar. Labor’s softly, softly approach is failing Queenslanders, doing nothing is not working and the economy is hurting.

Labor have scrapped a number of LNP initiatives including the visitor expenditure target and our commitment to reducing red tape for tourism operators. A number of large-scale projects and new developments in Cairns, Central Queensland and the Gold Coast have either been downgraded or continually delayed.

Labor’s continual scaremongering over the Great Barrier Reef, their policy on lockout laws and going soft on criminal gang laws damage our international tourism reputation.

Our Record

In government, the LNP brought the tourism industry together for the first time in over two decades, through DestinationQ, to chart a 20 year strategic plan for tourism in Queensland.

We grew the tourism industry by $3.5 billion by establishing the Attracting Aviation Investment Fund which delivered an extra 718,000 aeroplane seats into Queensland each year. The LNP also created Tourism and Events Queensland, as one single body working to grow tourism and attract more major events including across regional Queensland.

Our plan was about working with the industry and capitalising on our people and lifestyle, our culture and heritage, our natural wonders and our climate.

Our Real Plan

A Tim Nicholls-led LNP Government will promote our key tourism destinations through increased use of social and digital media, to ensure we get more than our fair share of interstate and international tourists.

We’ll do this through a $3 million capital infrastructure program over 3 years to roll-out 500 new WiFi hot spots to key tourism destinations across the state.

We will partner with local Councils and Regional Tourism Organisations to locate these additional hotspots in places that showcase Queensland to the world.

Using digital and social media to showcase the great tourism locations is a smart way to share the word that Queensland is a great place to visit.

We have an amazing range of natural and man-made tourism assets that are unique to Queensland and set our state apart from other tourist destinations around Australia. From the Great Barrier Reef in the Far North, to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs museum near Winton in the outback and the turtles at Mon Repos near Bundaberg we have an advantage that we need to capitalise on.

Queensland needs an edge to boost tourism and to ensure that we don’t keep losing market share to our interstate competitors.

More than 20,000 extra jobs are predicted in the tourism industry over the next four years, but that won’t happen without a plan to grow tourism.

We’ll be a common sense government that listens, plans and acts to build a better Queensland.

Frequently Asked Questions

What will be put in place to ensure that the WiFi isn’t used improperly?As is the case in Brisbane, users need to agree to a set of terms and conditions before they are provided coverage through the free WiFi network. If the user does not agree, than access is withheld. It is stipulated that the ‘hotspot’ is intended to be used in a manner that shall not cause offence or disruption to others. Usage of internet through this public WiFi to persons under the age of 18 is at the responsibility of their parent or guardian.

Users are warned that access will be withdrawn if one or more of the following occurs:

your access is terminated by reason of a breach of those terms and conditions

the wireless connection of the hotspot you are accessing is lost, disconnected or becomes out of range

no activity is detected from your wireless enabled device for a continual period of 10 minutes while logged on to the hotspot

you exceed the time limit of four hours

you exceed the data limit of 250 Megabytes

you attempt to manipulate or bypass any limitations of the hotspot

we are unable to determine the IP address of your device

there is an emergency.

Are there any examples of how a similar program is being utilised now?The Brisbane City Council has rolled out a free WiFi program in public spaces across the City. These include in 22 local parks, the CBD, Mount Coot-tha lookout and South Bank parklands. Brisbane City Council is also rolling them out in high streets allowing residents and visitors to stay connected as they move around Brisbane.

What will the State Government do to help negotiate contracts for local Councils to keep operating costs low?Under this plan, the Queensland Government would utilise its purchasing power to assist local Councils in negotiating contracts for administration and operational expenditure to ensure that costs are kept as low as possible. It is expected that the State Government would be able to negotiate a more competitive rate with a telecommunication provider given its whole of government purchasing power.

Are there any examples of how this policy would be of benefit to the Queensland tourism industry?On 1 September 2016, Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ) indicated that visitors were flocking to Cardwell to swim in a spectacular natural spa pool after the collection of photographs on the Explore Tropical North Queensland Facebook page went viral. The post was seen by 130,000 people and shared 7300 times. It was reported in the media that, “This word-of mouth recommendation is working, with the Cardwell Visitor Information Centre noticing a significant increase in visitors and many more inquiries for directions to the spa pools.”

What does the latest tourism data indicate?The 2015-16 Tourism and Events Queensland Annual Report tabled on 29 September 2016 revealed that in the last year Queensland lost market share in terms of total overnight visitation (23.8% to 23.6%) in Australia and domestic visitors (22.9% to 22.7%) in Australia.

What is the speed of the data available in the Brisbane City Council area through their free WiFi program?Brisbane City Council have advised that their download speed is up to 200Mb/sec and we would seek to negotiate a similar arrangement subject to local conditions.